Editing Abramowitz and Stegun (section)

==Overview==
Since it was first published in 1964, the 1046-page ''Handbook'' has been one of the most comprehensive sources of information on [[special function]]s, containing definitions, identities, approximations, plots, and tables of values of numerous functions used in virtually all fields of [[applied mathematics]].<ref name="Miller_1968"/><ref name="REV_89_1"/><ref name="Boisvert_2011"/> The notation used in the ''Handbook'' is the ''[[de facto]]'' standard for much of applied mathematics today.

At the time of its publication, the ''Handbook'' was an essential resource for practitioners. Nowadays, [[scientific calculator]]s, [[numerical analysis]] software packages, and [[computer algebra system]]s have replaced the [[mathematical table|function tables]], but the ''Handbook'' remains an important reference source. The foreword discusses a meeting in 1954 in which it was agreed that "the advent of high-speed computing equipment changed the task of table making but definitely did not remove the need for tables".

{{Blockquote|More than 1,000 pages long, the ''Handbook of Mathematical Functions'' was first published in 1964 and reprinted many times, with yet another reprint in 1999. Its influence on science and engineering is evidenced by its popularity. In fact, when ''[[New Scientist]]'' magazine recently asked some of the world's leading scientists what single book they would want if stranded on a desert island, one distinguished British physicist<ref name="Berry_1997"/> said he would take the Handbook.
The ''Handbook'' is likely the most widely distributed and most cited NIST technical publication of all time. Government sales exceed 150,000 copies, and an estimated three times as many have been reprinted and sold by commercial publishers since 1965. During the mid-1990s, the book was cited every 1.5 hours of each working day. And its influence will persist as it is currently being updated in digital format by NIST.|[[NIST]]<ref name="NIST_2001"/>}}

[[file:Abramowitz&Stegun.page97.agr.jpg|right|thumb|Page 97 showing part of a table of [[common logarithm]]s]]

The chapters are:
# Mathematical Constants
# Physical Constants and Conversion Factors
# Elementary [[analysis (mathematics)|Analytical]] Methods
# Elementary [[Transcendental function|Transcendental Functions]]
# [[Exponential integral|Exponential Integral]] and Related Functions
# [[Gamma function|Gamma Function]] and Related Functions
# [[Error Function]] and [[Fresnel integral|Fresnel Integrals]]
# [[Legendre function|Legendre Functions]]
# [[Bessel function|Bessel Functions]] of Integral Order
# Bessel Functions of Fractional Order
# Integrals of Bessel Functions
# [[Struve function|Struve Functions]] and Related Functions
# [[Confluent hypergeometric function|Confluent Hypergeometric Function]]s
# [[Coulomb wave function|Coulomb Wave Functions]]
# [[Hypergeometric functions|Hypergeometric Functions]]
# [[Jacobian elliptic function|Jacobian Elliptic Functions]] and [[Theta function|Theta Functions]]
# [[Elliptic integral|Elliptic Integrals]]
# [[Weierstrass elliptic function|Weierstrass Elliptic]] and Related Functions
# [[parabolic cylinder function|Parabolic Cylinder Functions]]
# [[Mathieu functions|Mathieu Functions]]
# [[Spheroidal wave function|Spheroidal Wave Functions]]
# [[Orthogonal polynomial|Orthogonal Polynomials]]
# [[Bernoulli polynomials|Bernoulli and Euler Polynomials]], [[Riemann Zeta function|Riemann Zeta Function]]
# [[Combinatorial analysis|Combinatorial Analysis]]
# Numerical Interpolation, Differentiation, and Integration
# [[Probability]] Functions
# Miscellaneous Functions
# Scales of Notation
# [[Laplace Transform]]s